


Monster

by CanineR7A7



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clementine needs a hug, Clementine's been through some shit, Depression, Inspired by a Skillet song, It's starting to catch up with her, Minerva is a good guy, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, no points for guessing which one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-30 15:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17830835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanineR7A7/pseuds/CanineR7A7
Summary: The group become fearful of Clementine following the events on the boat. Deciding they’d be better off without her, Clementine heads off; leaving AJ and a small note to the people she considered family. Injured and alone, she has to readjust to relying only on herself – at least she thought she did before a stranger practically adopted her. Meanwhile, the kids at Ericson’s become riddled with guilt at abandoning the one who saved them and set out to find her, but the girl they find is a mere shadow of the one they knew.





	1. Chapter 1

Violet clutched at the crumpled sheet of paper in her pocket as they trudged along the overgrown path, their group was silent, all of them too bogged down by the events last week; was it really last week? She’d replayed the events so many times in her head it was hard to tell sometimes, she still hadn’t gotten over how they treated Clem, none of them had. She glanced to the side, AJ had been the most affected; the kid had barely moved when he realised Clem was gone, not that she blamed him, that girl was practically his mother.

“There should be a cabin up ahead.” James informed them softly, he’d only seen the aftermath and Violet felt a sharp pain in her chest, he might’ve been able to convince Clem to stay; at least long enough for them to get over themselves. He’d promised to help them find her though none of them knew what he would do afterwards, whether he’d stay as well or keep wandering. They carried on walking, the overgrowth thinning out as they neared the wooden structure; it had clearly seen better days but it would do for tonight. The door opened easy enough and they quietly checked the building for walkers, gathering in the living room once they were sure it was empty.

“So, any plans or are we just going to keep picking random directions?” Minnie huffed out, gaze never once leaving the window. Violet knew she probably felt more guilt than the rest of them; she just needed more time; time? What time? A voice in the back of her head growled. As much as she hated to admit it, she kind of agreed, they hadn’t given Clem time, and now she was who-knows-where, probably dead. No. Not going there.

“I mean, every direction’s random at this point.” Louis attempted a joke, it was obvious he hadn’t expected it to work but the gesture was nice. Violet turned her gaze back to AJ who was busy staring at the pictures he’d brought with him; she didn’t need to see them to know Clem was in all of them.

“North.” Violet wouldn’t have known AJ had spoken if she hadn’t have been looking at him, the others were similarly shocked; he hadn’t said a word since she left. James was the first to recover, not surprising really, he wasn’t as bogged down by the guilt as they were.

“North?” AJ just nodded, gaining the same thousand-yard stare they’d all seen on Clem’s face at least once; though his was noticeably less haunted than hers had always been.

“The note, she mentioned going north.” Tenn piped up, obviously realising AJ wasn’t going to say anything else. The conversation drifted off into an awkward silence, Violet knew they were all wishing that Clem would just come walking through the door as if nothing had happened, but she wouldn’t, and it was their fault.

“I’ll keep watch.” Minnie grunted as she headed out the door, the others awkwardly lying down for the night. Violet knew that none of them would actually sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

She didn’t know where she was, she didn’t know how she got here. Cold, that was all she knew, cold and tired but unable to sleep. She heard a door creak, steady footsteps before a hand ghosted through her hair.

“Still out of it then.” She knew there was someone there, she couldn’t see them, couldn’t see much of anything. A hand pressing against her forehead, cold, too cold. She couldn’t pull away, her body wouldn’t respond.

“Fever should’ve gone down by now.” The hand was replaced by a cloth, cold. The footsteps faded away, come back. A soft thud, rustling, the footsteps came back.

“You need to eat something kid.” Hands grabbing her shoulders, back against the wall, too cold. There was someone next to her, heat spreading to her side. She felt something go down her throat, warm. It stopped, the heat moved away, cold again.

“You’ve seen some shit, haven’t you?” You have no idea, she wanted to say, the words wouldn’t come out. She felt the hand in her hair again, wanted to lean into it but couldn’t.

“Still non-responsive huh? That’s fine; I can talk enough for both of us.” The hand moved to grip hers, icicles resting against her knuckles.

“We’ve probably got about another week’s worth of food, half that of medical supplies.” She wanted to get up, wanted to help the stranger look. She couldn’t, a passenger in her own body.

“I don’t know what kinda war you got going on in your head, but if you can hear me know this; I’m not letting you die kid. I ain’t religious, but fuck if you’ve survived this long someone has a plan for you.” The words didn’t make much sense, they didn’t half the time. They probably would if she could focus on what was going on but she was too tired. A hand squeezed her shoulder.

“Try and sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.” She heard the stranger leave, one week and she didn’t even know what they looked like, or who they were. Her eyelids grew heavy but she knew she wouldn’t sleep, she hadn’t for the past week.


	3. Chapter 3

They set out early the next morning; Violet knew that none of them had really slept. They didn’t even know if Clem was alive, or if they were heading in the right direction in the first place. Minnie was noticeably distancing herself from them, keeping at the back with a mumbled excuse of _‘someone needs to cover our backs.’_ They were still quiet, though Louis had tried again to cheer them up.

“There’s a town up ahead.” Sure enough they could see a few buildings towards the edge of the tree line, grey structures that had been sprayed different colours. It was hard to tell whether some of it was there before or after this whole mess started.

“Do you think she’s there?” Ruby asked; AJ just shook his head, gazing sadly at the ground.

“She always said to avoid places with lots of buildings.” Violet glanced at him; it was obvious he wanted to believe she was there.

“We should check anyway, if nothing else we might be able to get some supplies.” Minnie pointed out, the others nodded in agreement and quickly headed to the first building.


	4. Chapter 4

She should probably be asleep, but she had no control over that, no control over anything. The stranger was still there, she couldn’t hear them, but something told her she wasn’t alone. She felt something being pulled over her, too thick to be a blanket, too thin to be a quilt.

“Your fever’s gone down; hopefully you’ll be well enough to move soon.” The stranger talked a lot, probably hoping she’d be able to respond. She didn’t, the stranger moved away.

“We’ll need to leave as soon as you’re able too; I’ve almost bled this place dry. Should’ve moved on before now.” Her fault, always her fault.

“I don’t know what happened to ya before; still don’t know if you can hear me. But I’m not gonna abandon ya kid, you probably don’t believe me, that’s fine.” She didn’t know how long that promise would last; they all left her in the end. A crash sounded from beyond the door.

“I’ll be right back.” The stranger left, an almost worrying silence settling in the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Violet had lost track of the amount of buildings they’d searched, each one just as empty as the last, whoever had been here before them had picked the place clean. They headed into another one, it’d probably been a store of some kind; the shelves were too empty to determine just what it used to sell. It might not be a total loss, every store had its storage room, the only question was whether they’d find anything.

“Vi?” She headed over to Minnie who was crouching in front of some kind of opening in the wall, whoever had looted the place must’ve broken it; the wall wasn’t very thick, likely one of those fake walls that are added after the owner decides they want another room.

“Do you think there’s anything in there?” Louis asked as he walked over, the others standing behind him. Violet merely shrugged, it was worth checking. They crawled through one by one, Louis bringing up the rear. He knocked a stack of crates over as he stood up, the top one spilling open as it fell; they all held their breaths at the loud crash, relaxing only when the telltale sound of growling failed to reach them.

“That was close.” Just as Tenn said that, a door they hadn’t noticed burst open; a figure stood there, an AK-47 pointed directly at them. Their face was covered by a training mask, with sloppily painted fangs, but there was no denying that they were female; her hair was a greasy mess and greyish-blue eyes gazed coolly at them.

“Who are you?” James asked calmly, obviously trying to let the girl know they weren’t a threat.

“Better question is, what are you doing with my stuff?” Her voice was slightly altered by the filters on the mask but she sounded close to their ages. Louis stepped forward this time, halting when the gun was pointed at his chest.

“We didn’t know it was yours, we’ve been travelling for a few days now and we were trying to find something to eat.” The girl straightened her posture, she’d stopped pointing the gun at them but they knew that saying the wrong thing would have it pointed back at them in a second.

“Bit late for that, the stuff here’ll only last another week and I’ve already picked the other buildings clean.” So that explained why the town was so empty, and why there had been hardly any walkers.

“We’re also looking for our friend, have you seen her?” The girl merely shrugged, not seeming to care about their problems.

“Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. Look, your chances are pretty slim, you’d be better off heading back to wherever you’re holed up.” She sounded as though she was talking from experience but none of them were willing to give up the search.

“Please, if you can’t help us find her, can we at least spend the night here?” They didn’t need to be outside to know it was getting late, everyone knew not to travel at dark if you could help it. The girl seemed to size them up before sighing and removing the mask, it did little to make her appear more friendly.

“Fine, but just the night. Already got someone else I’m looking after and I don’t have enough to spare for much more than that.” They nodded their agreement and followed her through the door, it was one of those slanted ones that usually led to a basement. They walked down the small hallway in silence, stopping once they reached another door.

“Just, be careful okay? She’s in a bad way.” The door opened and the group froze upon seeing who was there.

“Clementine?”


	6. Chapter 6

“You know her then?” The girl commented as she dumped her gun in one of the corners, heading over to Clementine before the others could say a word.

“Clementine huh? At least I know what her name is now.” They watched as the girl pulled the blanket away, guilt churning in all of them when they saw the bandages peeking out from her clothes; clothes that were riddled with blood stains and burn marks.

“Come on kid, can’t stay like that forever.” They watched the girl manhandle her into a sitting position; it was obvious she was trying to be careful.

“What’s wrong with her?” Ruby asked, doctor-head taking over long enough for her to crouch on Clem’s other side. The girl merely shrugged.

“I don’t know. At first, I thought it was because of her injuries. Kid was running on fumes when we ran into each other. Brought her back here, treated the wounds as best I could. I’d assumed she was tired, but – and I’m no doctor – she should’ve been more responsive by now.” She explained as Ruby placed a hand against Clem’s head.

“You don’t think it’s the injuries?” The girl grunted in acknowledgement and tilted Clem’s head up so that her face was illuminated by the lamp light. Violet realised what the girl was showing them; Clem’s eyes had always been jaded, but now? Now it was as though someone had torn the life right out of them.

“There’s a war going on in her head. It’s shattered her.” The girl stated as she wiped a damp cloth over Clem’s forehead.

“Is there anything we can do?” Violet knew the others were all feeling the same guilt, this was their fault, they had to make things right.

“When someone shatters, it’s up to them to piece themselves together. Right now she doesn’t know where she is, she hasn’t responded to anything since she first woke up.” That was troubling, how were they supposed to get her back if she couldn’t respond?

“Look, whatever you’re planning’ll have to wait till morning. There’s some spare blankets in that crate, help yourselves.” They nodded their thanks and grabbed a blanket each, though some of them still ended up sharing.

“Wait, what’s your name?” Ruby asked before the girl could turn the light off.

“Name’s Pierce.”


	7. Chapter 7

They woke up early the next morning, at least, Violet thought it was early. She glanced around the room and saw Pierce was already awake, packing a few things into a backpack that must’ve come from the room above them.

“I’ll help you get your friend back to wherever your camp is, then I’m heading off. Not much point me staying here any longer.” So she knew Violet was awake? She watched Pierce hoist the bag onto her back before walking over to Clem, shaking her shoulder gently.

“Hey kid, never really got to introduce ourselves did we? Eh, that’s fine, probably for the best anyway.” Violet realised this must’ve become a daily thing for Pierce, waking up and holding a one-sided conversation, might be the only thing that’s kept her sane.

“Why’s that?” Violet asked, watching as Pierce jolted back; so she didn’t know she wasn’t the only one awake? Pierce turned to face her, expression growing sheepish – well, as sheepish as it could without losing the _‘I will kill you in your sleep if you mess with me’_ thing she had going on.

“Sorry about that, got used to thinking out loud.” Violet watched her pack some of the bedding; obviously the old mattress wouldn’t be coming with them. She seemed to be thinking about what to say.

“You think you know how this world works, but I’m willing to bet your friend’s experienced more of it, hell she’s probably experienced more than me. This world has a bad habit of letting you get close to folks, then tearing them away just as you start thinking everything’ll be fine. Your girl over here, she’s already shattered, I don’t think anyone wants to see what’ll happen if she loses anymore.” There was a threat somewhere in her words and, after the situation with the Delta, Violet and the others knew not to tempt fate. Obviously deciding the conversation was over, Pierce headed over to the basement entrance.

“I’ll go and make sure the perimeter’s clear, just because there haven’t been any crawlers for a few weeks doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance of some more showing up.” Crawlers huh? Funny how many names people had for the walkers. She headed off without another word leaving Violet to watch as the others slowly woke up; she almost smiled when she saw AJ move to Clem’s side, almost, because the girl was still as distant as she had been when they showed up.

“Where’d Pierce go?” Ruby asked as she checked Clem’s bandages, the others making sure they had everything.

“She’s checking the perimeter; don’t know how long that’ll take.” Apparently not long, because five minutes later Pierce returned, she seemed relaxed so Violet guessed that meant it was clear enough to leave.

“We got a clear exit, should probably head out now.” They all stood up and watched as she put her mask back on and picked up her gun, she quirked a brow when she caught AJ staring at her.

“You okay there little man?” AJ frowned as he motioned to the gun.

“Why didn’t you take it with you?” Violet had to admit she was curious too; Pierce just chuckled and crouched to AJ’s eye level.

“Wanna know a secret?” AJ nodded and the others watched as Pierce removed the cartridge, they all felt a bit embarrassed at their earlier reactions when no bullets fell out as she tipped it upside down.

“Empty. This thing’s just a scare tactic little man, better with knives than guns anyway.” Violet would’ve been confused as to why she’d admitted it was a scare tactic, if she hadn’t have mentioned she was good with knives. She put the stock back on the gun and slotted it in a strap between her back and bag before walking over to Clementine.

“Come on kid; let’s get you out of here.” She picked her up effortlessly, not seeming to mind that AJ was standing a little too close to her leg. They set off soon afterwards, James leading the way back.


	8. Chapter 8

The trip back was just as uneventful as the last one had been, though they were all slightly happier knowing Clem was alive, only slightly, they still didn’t know when or if she’d be okay. AJ was still keeping close to their new acquaintance, whether it was because he trusted her or just because she was carrying Clem Violet couldn’t be sure.

“This place of yours secure?” Pierce asked as they neared the safe zone, the air-filters on the mask didn’t really distort her voice that much. Honestly, Violet was surprised it took the girl this long to ask.

“As secure as it can be.” Louis went for optimistic but it came across more tired, if Pierce had any further doubts, she didn’t voice them. Violet wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not, she felt Minnie’s hand lightly brush against hers – she knew what that meant, they needed to talk.

“Hey Willy, open the gate.” Louis called up to one of the lookout posts once they were close enough. Violet barely spotted a patch of brown hair ducking from view before the gates shuddered open. They really needed to fix them at some stage.

“Shit. Is she okay?” Aasim asked as soon as he saw them. Violet was kind of thankful the others were focusing on Clem and not Pierce; they could have proper introductions later. Once the others had checked out what was going on, Ruby gently took Clem from Pierce’s arms; Violet had no doubts that Pierce could have managed for a few more minutes, but she also knew this was something Ruby had to do.

“AJ, Aasim, can you show Pierce around? We need to sort some things out.” The two of them reluctantly nodded, Aasim sending a suspicious glance at the newcomer before the three of them headed off. Violet and Minnie headed to their room, time to figure some shit out.


End file.
